“I turned around and just went, ‘Oh my God.’ I called him and said, ‘Hurry up, get out here and look at this,’” Margaux Messina, Joey’s mom, said.

#ONLYON3 – A 12-year-old, bullied at school, wakes up to this hateful graffiti across the front of his South Phila. home. Police have opened an investigation to determine if this is ethnic intimidation. At 6 on #CBS3@CBSPhillypic.twitter.com/e5r5C6ZKjh

Philadelphia police now have detectives assigned to investigative the graffiti.

“In this specific case, the nature of what was said does lead us to believe there is a racial component because of a specific word that was used,” Capt. Sekou Kinebrew said in a brief interview.

Joey’s dad is at a loss in dealing with what has arrived at his doorstep.

“I want to go up to that school and confront the main people and how am I composing myself, I don’t even know. I’m ready to explode,” said Joe Messina.

In a statement obtained by CBS3, the school says, “Our job is to keep students safe. We have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying and investigate all allegations thoroughly and expeditiously. For all off-campus incidents, we defer to the police for appropriate follow-up.”

The school added Joe Messina, the father, “is no longer allowed on campus because of a pattern of behavior.” They declined to provide further details.